


A Love Unspoken

by DarayFlair



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Bad Parent Maryse Lightwood, Canon-Typical Violence, Everyone Needs A Hug, Everyone lives, Forehead Touching, Gen, Good Parabatai Jace Wayland, Good Sibling Isabelle Lightwood, Holding Hands, Hugs, Hurt Alec Lightwood, Hurt/Comfort, Kid Fic, M/M, Protective Alec Lightwood, Protective Isabelle Lightwood, Protective Jace Wayland, Young Alec Lightwood, power of touch, young Isabelle Lightwood, young Jace Wayland
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:07:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28285218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarayFlair/pseuds/DarayFlair
Summary: A fic that follows Jace and Alec through growing up together and how simple gestures of touch can be learned and meaningful."There is something to be said about being speechless. When there are no longer any words left or any to begin with; what then? Alec learned the answer to that from a very young age. He understood how powerful a touch could be when someone needed it most. There were times when simple gestures were all that he needed to comfort Izzy. A touch on the arm, a quick squeeze from the side, or one of his tight full body hugs. Alec was always there to hold her and make it better. So it wasn’t something she really ever thought about. That is until she was about ten years old, once Jace came to live with them."
Relationships: Alec Lightwood/Jace Wayland
Comments: 13
Kudos: 48
Collections: Jalec Secret Santa 2020





	A Love Unspoken

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SheWillHuntYouDown](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SheWillHuntYouDown/gifts).



> My Jalec Secret Santa giftee had some amazing prompts that my hugging fic needing brain ran rampant with. I have written a this long a fic so fast!
> 
> Thank you to my wonderful beta [thatnerdemilyj](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatnerdemilyj/pseuds/thatnerdemilyj)
> 
> For my lovely giftee [SheWillHuntYouDown](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SheWillHuntYouDown). I hope you enjoy it! <3

##  A Love Unspoken

There is something to be said about being speechless. When there are no longer any words left or any to begin with; what then? Alec learned the answer to that from a very young age. He understood how powerful a touch could be when someone needed it most. There were times when simple gestures were all that he needed to comfort Izzy. A touch on the arm, a quick squeeze from the side, or one of his tight full body hugs. Alec was always there to hold her and make it better. So it wasn’t something she really ever thought about. That is until she was about ten years old, once Jace came to live with them.

Jace was a wild card. Everything was extremes with him. Jace shied away from hugs but didn’t mind getting caught in holds while sparring with Alec for hours. He followed the rules enough to avoid punishment but outright broke others with Izzy. He didn’t like loud noises but was almost always the loudest one in the room. One minute he would be studying quietly in the training room; the next he was screaming, punching, and throwing things in the library. It was as fascinating as it was terrifying.

After a few months it was clear that Alec was Jace’s favorite person and Alec had welcomed him into the family wholeheartedly. For Izzy, Jace was her second favorite person and worst enemy all in one. Today had been a good day so far, no screaming matches. Yet.

They were sprawled out in front of the library’s fireplace, winding down after a long week of lessons. Jace was complaining, again, about Izzy not wanting to sneak out to get in some ‘real’ training. He swore they’d be back before anyone noticed. Alec was being suspiciously silent in Izzy’s opinion. Alec had just started going on small recon and tracking missions without their parents but he wasn’t that experienced. Patrols were dangerous. Even on routine patrols her parents would come home dirty, bloody, and bruised. Now Alec did too. They all would one day but… “We are too young to go alone.”

“We won’t be alone. Alec will come with.” Jace nonchalantly supplied as if this fact overrode any further arguments, “And I’ve gone on tons of hunts already.”

“Really?” Alec finally spoke up. Izzy shot him a disbelieving look, but he was too focused on what was no doubt another regaling tale of heroism about what “back in Idris” training was like. 

She tuned out Jace recounting some exercise his dad had taken him on in Brocelind Forest. Alec looked fascinated. It was just tracking a rogue werewolf, Jace hadn’t even fought. They had tricked and trapped the werewolf. Nothing her amazing older brother needed to be so impressed by. Alec did that kind of thing all the time now. In New York. He would never brag about it though. He didn’t have to.

Izzy decided to set Jace straight and jumped into the conversation, her voice dripping with admiration of Alec’s cunning and skill in all its brutal glory. How Alec had also shown honour and duty; owning up to the wrong he had done to get the victory.

“It was after hours of kendo sessions with Preston.” The name sounded bitter and hissed as Izzy began her accolade in Alec’s honour. “He started taunting Alec, loudly. I don’t remember exactly what he said but it was rude and stupid.”

Alec had pulled his knees up to his chin and grimaced, “Izzy…”

“I will never forget the cracking sound Preston’s nose made when Alec perfectly executed kata and then added an extra jab flawlessly! No one saw it coming!” Her eyes were bright with excitement when Jace looked as shocked as everyone else did on that fateful day. Izzy continued animatedly, “Alec broke his nose. There was blood everywhere and Preston was crying.”

Jace’s eyes flicked over to Alec who was trying to hide behind his legs, pulling them to his chest muttering, “He deserved it.”

“Totally! Alec was so cool about it too. Just walked away from him and came to sit down with me like it was nothing.” She agreed wholeheartedly then frowned at the boys’ unenthusiastic reactions to her story. Izzy had never seen or heard of Alec doing something so bloody or violent before. She doubted Jace had either.

“You must have gotten in so much trouble,” Jace said quietly.

“I deserved it." Alec nodded sombrely.

“Yeah, but Alec you were great and–”

“It was Mom’s idea, Izzy.” Alec uncurled himself, cutting her off with a beseeching look, “I had gotten too stuck in the exercises; so I couldn’t win. I was predictable. She suggested it.”

Izzy stared at him. Their mom had told Alec to break the rules. Their mom who hounded them to memorize the Accords perfectly. Their mom who wouldn’t allow Izzy to use runes while training to be better prepared for battle. Maryse had instructed Alec to break the rules and let him get into trouble for it.

She can’t begin to describe how abruptly her world had started to tilt. She remembers being filled with a rage like she had never felt before. Jace gave her a wary look, minutely leaning away from her. Alec looked pale and sorrowful. Izzy was spitting the words at him before she could stop herself, “The law is hard but it is the law only when it suits Mom I guess. Right?”

Alec started to reach for her, but she was already storming away. She came back a few minutes later, once the angry tears had dried and she wanted the comfort of her older brother. He had done nothing Izzy wouldn’t have if she had been in his place. 

Something halted her just outside the doorway though. Jace was speaking so softly to Alec it was almost inaudibly. It was the softest she had ever heard him speak, “You just said Preston is an idiot so obviously he’s wrong. And I know it’s not true, you’re impossible to hate.”

Alec has his head in his hands. He nodded but was clear he wasn’t really listening. He refused to look up and meet Jace’s eyes. They were staring sightlessly into the fire; Jace uncharacteristically still and Alec uncharacteristically tense. An unspoken misery slowly permeated the whole room. The only sound was the fire and their unnaturally deeply breathing. It is controlled and measured too precisely. The synchronicity was eerie to watch.

Izzy was about to make her presence known but refrained when Jace abruptly turned to face Alec. Jace ducks his head and forces their eyes to meet. The move is not unlike what she has seen Alec do before. It is new to see it from Jace. It is new to see Jace trying to comfort someone. 

Not unlike Alec’s calm and reassuring tone though Jace’s is edged with hesitancy, “You’re her big brother. That means something different than being her mother or father.” 

Jace reached out to rest his hand, haltingly gentle, on the side of Alec’s neck, forcing their eyes to meet.

Izzy can’t help smiling at the unexpectedly sweet gesture. She can tell Alec is refraining from pulling Jace into one of his tight all encompassing hugs. Instead he just as cautiously intertwines their fingers. Alec agrees, the admission just a breath that Izzy almost misses. “It is different.”

* * *

Jace had eventually opened up to the Lightwood siblings more and more. Never in expected ways though. Eventually, the rough patches of childhood passed and Jace was completely integrated into the family by adolescence. 

The boys decided that they did feel differently about each other. Enough so that they had recently become _parabatai_. And they were one of the best pairs. They were so good in battle that they didn’t need much time to plan anymore. Even the best could be overwhelmed though.

Jace deposited his ichor slicked weapons on the table and gingerly removed Izzy’s arm from around his shoulders, “Are you sure you can stand?”

Alec still hadn’t let her go and wasn’t making any motions to. It didn’t bother Jace as he moved around his _parabatai_ and started running his _stele_ over her skin. Warmth of the runes spread healing down to the gash on her leg. It finished patching up the few scrapes and bruises she’d received too. 

Jace quickly snuck a few onto Alec, pulling the side of his shirt up inconspicuously. “It’s fine, Jace. Focus on Izzy.”

She unwound her arm from Alec to test her leg, “He did. Now it is your turn.”

“I didn’t get hit.” Alec smirked and pushed some hair out of Izzy’s face, taking his own stock of her injuries. He noted the scratch along her collarbone and reached for his _stele_ , “Ranged weapon remember.”

“He’s too busy covering for you.” Jace looked over Izzy’s head to share a conspiratorial smile with Alec. 

Izzy gave an indignant snort, “I don’t need him to cover me! I did fine considering this was my second all night patrol. You, Jace, have stumbled in with much worse last week.”

“Impossible. I don’t get hit. Ever.” 

Alec wrapped Izzy up in one of his tight hugs, letting her burrow into his chest. He smelt of sweat, ichor, and Alec. She basked in their rightly deserved praise and attention. Jace ran his hand down her back. Alec nestled his cheek in her hair.

“You did great, Izzy.”

“Nothing still hurts?”

“I’m good,” Izzy softly answered them both, not wanting to disturb such a new and rare moment. It had been a tough fight. What was supposed to be a routine patrol to show Izzy the route turned into a four against three fight. Alec had actually started cursing once the fourth demon appeared. 

“What happened?!” Maryse marched towards them. Her expression alone was enough to make all other Shadowhunters around the trio clear out. 

The _parabatai_ moved as one away from Izzy with wicked speed; both falling into a stiff parade rest. Izzy turned, glaring, as their mother approached, “We’re fine –”

“I have been informed that you did not meet with the warlock. That is unacceptable.” She didn’t even acknowledge that Izzy had spoken or that her children had blood on their gear.

Alec responded first, breaking the stunned silence, “We ran into trouble. It was closed and empty by the time we got there.”

They had handled the demons but hadn’t had time to stop by one of the Downworld’s clubs. Maryse had wanted them to pick up a signed contract from a warlock there. After the attack, the _parabatai_ had opted to skip that part of the mission and get Izzy back home. It has been a long painful walk. Runes took time and in cases like this, multiple applications to heal a Hunter fully.

“We shall work on your efficiency then.” Maryse’s cold tone dripped with disappointment, “I shall send a more competent team to pick it up in the meantime.”

She looked them over with a vaguely dissatisfied sneer and passingly confirmed that none of her children were hurt.

“I’ll get started in the training room as soon as the report is done.” Alec’s acceptance of the severe treatment due to his supposed lacking was evident in his vacant stare and hollow answer. At some point, it had become a default response to whatever inadequacies were made bare. His siblings hated it.

Jace took a step forward meeting Maryse’s level gaze. The move placed Izzy and Alec protectively behind him. Izzy felt her lips twitch upward at Jace’s now natural impulse, “It won’t happen again.”

With an abrupt nod of dismissal, Maryse turned around and left. The conversation deemed finished once their perceived misconduct was brought to attention with immediate action to be rectified. 

The behaviour of the whole situation was beginning to be a recurrence in the past few months. One that Izzy refused to lay down and tolerate. Disbelief that this was how their mother would now treat her children; her eldest, her only daughter. 

Pure fury ignited in Izzy’s veins as the interaction left her reeling like it was a physical blow. She pushed past Jace ignoring the warning sting from her healing wound, careering after Maryse’s retreating figure. Biting words pulled themselves from her. Their acidity seemed to burn her tongue as they passed her lips, “That’s not fair! Alec kept us alive! We were outnumbered and –”

“Isabelle.” It was the harshest she had ever heard her name, “I will discuss this in my office.” Maryse, her once loving and doting mother, taciturn exited leaving a void that echoed through Izzy’s bones as she followed now dutifully after her.

When she looked over her shoulder, hoping for her the boys’ reassurance that it was all okay. That they were all going to be okay. Neither were sparing her a glance.

_Three go in, three come out._

No one else approached the _parabatai_ or gave her more than a fleeting glance. Even after the scene she had caused. One might think that she would feel like an outsider to such a strong bond, but she knew they cared for her just as deeply but in a different way. 

Alec was pointedly looking at Jace’s chest. His entire being an expression of self-deprecation she wished wasn’t becoming so familiar. 

What she saw next made her pause mid-step. Becoming the best Shadowhunters of their generation was creating a small world of their own. One Izzy felt privileged to witness and be in her own way included.

It started with Jace, but then their hands moved to each other's runes simultaneously. She knew where the runes they touched, hidden under their stained gear. It wasn’t something she could recall ever seeing either one do before. Jace wrapped his free hand around the back of Alec’s neck and stepped closer to his _parabatai_. The gesture easily coaxed Alec’s slightly taller frame downward. When their foreheads met, they seemed to melt and relax into the embrace. Their eyes closed and chests moved in tandem. Sharing breaths and heartbeats. 

It was a rare few moments of peaceful tranquility that almost bordered on something more. Though Izzy supposed sharing a soul with someone would be rather intimate.

* * *

It was the best they could make of the worst situation they had ever been in. It had started out routine. Chasing four Shax demons off a busy Bronx street. Without warning, large, leathery wings violently burst from one of the demons in a thick cloud of sticky black fluid. The snarled, baring rows of serrated teeth in its now skeletal head. 

The walls smoked and hissed where viscous liquid landed. With an ear splitting shirk, it flew over the trio of Shadowhunters effectively blocking their only exit.

“We’ll manage.” Alec’s reassuring response was as immediate as it was confident.

After cursing the bad intel, Jace hoisted Alec to his ideal location. Up. In this case, the deserted building’s fire escape. The slick metal railings were a biting cold through Alec’s gloves. Without looking back, he started ascending the stairs two at a time. Each leaping step causing the structure to rattle. Snaking his way to the third landing, Alec stopped to fire arrows into the demons surrounding his _parabatai_ and sister. From this vantage point, Alec rained down a flurry of arrows with angelic speed.

Jace moved like water with his seraph blade. Together, he and Izzy made quick work of the one on their right. Spinning around and meeting in the middle to take up defensive positions. 

Arriving at the third landing, Alec smiled at their protective stance in front of the fire escape. He let loose three arrows in rapid succession. 

Their bond flew open from the heat of battle and now sang with angelic energy. It was flooded with their strengths like Jace’s determination and Alec’s attentiveness. Their potential feels limitless. Nothing could stop them. Nothing ever would.

_Only three to go!_

Alec could hear Izzy’s whip snapping as he made it to the third landing. Two more of his arrows pierced the demons on either side of the duo below. The glow from Jace’s blade dims, wetted with ichor. Each strike is perfectly aimed. For all of them.

The three Shadowhunters worked in flawless unison due to having spent the past two years fighting alongside one another. 

Until seven Shax demons rushed them, the cacffany of piercers clicking angerily.   
They seemed to appear out of nowhere, taking only seconds to regroup and join forces.

Jace launched himself away from Izzy into the fray, twisting and turning, attacking from all sides. An unstoppable force not to be reckoned with. Alec and Izzy covered him. Aiming for whichever demon was at his back. She glided around the onslaught, hitting hard and fast. A merciless deadly beauty. The three had managed to take down a second Shax when two more, apparently not a Shax, sprouted wings.

“Oh come on!” Jace’s disbelief rang out over the battle noise. Alec couldn’t help smirking a bit at his _parabatai_ ’s antics. His arrows never falter, aiming true without hesitation.

“Please tell me,” retorted Izzy while pulling her whip back, “you weren’t hoping for an easy night?”

Jace ran over a Shax demon, splitting its skull on his blade before tumbling to face her. “I wouldn’t dream of insulting you with such a thing.”

He glared menacingly as one of the winged demons leapt for Izzy’s back. Jace dived, covering her with his body. Terror gripped Alec as he stood helpless four stories above them.

Rolling them then letting her go, Izzy gracefully stood away from the horde that now loomed ominously.

“Jace!”

_Jace!_

Izzy’s and Alec’s concern echoed as Jace blocked the demon's deadly bite with his seraph blade. The acid from its mouth dripped down his hands and arms. Even with the adrenaline, it stung. Izzy’s whip wrapped around a glimmering clawed hand. Shiny claws grazed his gear. With a yelp it pulled back, Alec’s arrow cleaning slicing through its ribs.

“Whatever these are,” Jace toppled the demon onto its back and thrust his blade into its torso, “I hate them!”

“Morax?”

_Too close._

Jace righted himself, shrugged, and wiped his hands on his gear. Alec’s worry zipping through their bond to check on him. Jace hastily applied a hasty _iratze_ to his right palm. One deep breath before re-evaluating the situation.

Izzy and Jace encircled. Alec above both. Nine demons.

Though ichor sluggishly oozed out of their wounds the demons methodically pushed forward. Backing Jace and Izzy against the wall. 

_Not great. Need a new position._

“Cover me!” Jace ran towards a poorly repaired hole in the wall. The wooden planks used to patch it gave way easily. Jace’s eye adjusted to the bleak, dusty, windowless records closet. Tall and wide industrial filing cabinets filled most of the space. They looked heavy enough to barricade the door. He returned to Izzy’s side in time to cut down another Shax. The eight had surrounded her in a tight circle. She held her own, but Jace doubted she could take them all. He doubted anyone could. Jace pulled on her arm to lead her to the doorway. Luring the demons with their offensive.

_Better ground._

_Inside._

Alec curses when the door behind him doesn’t budge. Even after trying a few runes. Something is blocking it from the inside. Moving on, Alec sprints the last flight of stairs then begins scrambling up the rough bricks. Alec’s elbows were on the rooftop when their ribs suddenly felt crushed. Bits of mortar and concrete falling from the force of Alec’s impact.

Jace gasps at the unfamiliar tightness in their chest, looking up in time to see Alec being pulled from the ledge and thrown onto the rooftop. The demon plunged after Alec’s form; claws splayed to attack. 

“Alec!” Izzy’s panic edged shriek scrapes across Jace’s skin. 

Her whip tears at the wing of the other demon as it launches upwards. Once grounded, Jace severs the head with a power fueled by rage. That one wouldn’t be getting to his _parabatai_ now.

Izzy and Jace maneuver themselves to the doorway of the records closet, “Plan?”

“Blocking the door,” Jace replies.

Her whip’s reach keeps the eight remaining demons from getting near them. Each skitter forward retaliated with her keen viciousness.

_Get inside. Get to parabatai._

The closest filing cabinet can cover some of the doorway, for which Jace is thankful. It’s heavier than expected causing him to reactivate a strength rune. Managing to heave it in place, with a look they swap the cabinet with Izzy. An arm snaked its way through but with a shove from both it snaps off. Ichor and painful screams loudly reverberate off the walls of the small, cramped closet.

They dash to the next cabinet to barricade the door further. Once a few are stacked and braced, proving not to budge against the frustrated demons on the other side, they step back.

“This will hold.”

The barricade shifts worryingly.

Looking between Izzy and their only exit, their way to Alec, Jace pleads forgiveness. “For now.”

An unmistakable cry rings out over the chaos making both flinch.

“I got this.” Izzy offers him unnecessary absolution, “GO!” 

Jace doesn’t need more permission than that. Flinging the door to the rest of the building open, Jace races through the hallway. Passing doors and signs blindly searching for a way up. A way to Alec. 

Crashing through the door that leads to the stairwell, Jace feels Alec’s panic subside knowing they will see each other soon. Stairs race by with every breath. Every pounding heartbeat.  
Two.

The dry, bitter taste of fear is on their tongues. Feet stumbling the last few steps. Hands fumbling for the last few inches of ledge.  
Three.

In a split second decision, Jace turns left. Alec twists to the right. Pain scorches their bond.  
Then weightlessness.

They brace for the impact. 

If you asked them now, or in ten years, how Jace knew which window to go to or how Alec knew it would all be okay, the _parabatai_ wouldn’t be able to explain it. The bond just told them where to go and what they needed to know. They were themselves. They were one.  
They are _parabatai_.

Jace’s arms are under Alec’s, wound together, having snatched Alec plummeting past a third floor window.

The weight of being in each other’s arms is a blessing. The pain that comes with it is a curse. But the relief that overcomes them for a moment stops time.

Both gasp as the bond adjusts to their abrupt reunion, a tangle of emotions and sensations.  
Jace brushes his cheek over Alec’s sweat slick hair. Alec nuzzles into Jace’s strong, broad chest.  
They smell of salt and smoke and something uniquely their own.

Straining and grunting, Jace hauls Alec through the window. The glass crunching under unsteady feet. Alec clutches onto Jace, whimpering softly, as his front is scrapped along its frame. They fall in a bloody heap onto the floor.

“S-sorry.” Jace studders. Alec’s pain sinks into his bones, “Alec?”

“Jace.” 

“Yeah, I’m here. It's me. You're okay. We're okay.” The words spill from Jace’s lips, as much for Alec as they are for himself. 

Alec feebly grips his _parabatai_ with all the strength he can muster. His breathing is shallow and panting, “Izzy?”

“Downstairs. Safe.” Jace fists Alec’s wet gear, preventing his jerky movements. “She’ll find us.”

Blood coats Alec’s back, soaking his gear, the demon’s claws marked by ragged lines in his skin. Rivulets of copper drip concerningly. Jace is tracing _mendelin_ , _amissio_ , and _iratze_ runes before he even wills a stele to his hand, whose he’s not sure. To his horror, the runes disappear immediately. Alec lays boneless and unmoving. If they weren’t pressed so firmly together Jace would dread not feeling Alec’s chest shutter upon his own.

The lacerations are ugly and deep. Poison glistens in the wounds.

Blinking back tears, taking in more of Alec’s pain as his own, he silences words he can’t fear to think.

Jace draws the runes again. 

And again. 

With each tear that streaks down his cheek Jace applies another rune to his _parabatai_. Life in the Shadow World is cold, brutal, unforgiving, dark, and could end without warning. A fact that is all too real.

Nuzzling sweet tender kisses along Jace’s neck Alec murmurs, “Thanks for trying.”

The words make Jace’s heart skip a beat. He knots his hand in Alec’s hair, locking their gazes, and presses their foreheads together. Jace fiercely rasps, “Facilis descensus averni.”

Alec stares unblinkingly, eyes wide, as he shakily places his hand behind Jace’s head, “We will not be broken.”

Perseverance, devotion, and an unspoken love reignites their _parabatai_ runes. Jace sets the _stele_ to Alec’s tattered blackening skin once again. The next rune he draws shimmers, a golden glow filling the room. It doesn’t fade. Each one that follows is the same. Their shared pain ebbing as the wound mends, becoming a distant nightmarish memory. 

The soothing feeling of synced heartbeat and shared breath courses through the _parabatai_ ’s souls. They can both feel it reinvigorate Alec’s failing strength and calm Jace’s rising anxiety. 

The first warm rays of sunlight lighten the sky, chasing away all demons.

An old long forgotten peace settles.

The _parabatai_ bond tightly wraps around them mirroring their physical embrace; encompassing all that is unspoken.  
But words are no longer needed.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Happy Festive Holiday Season everyone!  
> And if you are reading this after the holiday season, have a great time zone! 
> 
> <3


End file.
